As a humanitarian tragedy looms in Syria, Canada should recognize the Syrian National Coalition, boost humanitarian aid and do our bit to help the Free Syrian Army.

A member of the Free Syrian Army holds his weapon while demonstrators chant slogans during a protest against Syria's President Bashar Assad in Aleppo on March 1, 2013.

Published on Sun Mar 03 2013

Bashar Assad’s generals are now using Scud missiles on civilians in Aleppo, the latest crime against humanity in a war that has claimed 72,000 lives. His troops are extorting cash from grieving families who want to bury their children. Some 4 million Syrians need aid. And the United Nations warns that the refugee crisis is building “at a staggering pace.” Nearly a million people have fled the country.

Yet for all that Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government seems curiously disconnected from the hellish plight in which many of Syria’s 21 million people find themselves. Canadian officials have duly criticized Assad’s “despotic” regime and the “unspeakable horror” it is inflicting on Arab Spring reformers. And Harper has pledged humanitarian aid. But given the scope of the crisis, Ottawa’s response has been tepid, at best.

Unlike the United States, Britain and other allies, Canada does not recognize the Syrian National Coalition headed by Moaz Alkhatib, a moderate Islamist, as the legitimate representative of Syria’s opposition forces — even though the Assad regime itself is willing to negotiate with the coalition. Unlike Britain, Australia, France and others the Harper government refused to sign a petition to the UN Security Council asking it to instruct the International Criminal Court to open a war crimes probe. Compared to the UN appeal for $1.5 billion in aid for Syria, and the U.S. government’s $500 million in aid, Canada’s $48 million over two years has been modest, to say the least. And Ottawa has shown little interest in helping the Free Syrian Army with non-lethal aid, as the U.S. is now doing, much less arming the rebels.

Granted, the collapse of Assad’s minority Alawite-led regime would likely result in a Sunni Muslim-led government in a country that is awash with weapons. That’s a concern to Israel, which enjoyed a stable if chilly peace with the Assad family and fears any change will be for the worse. But, like it or not, change is coming. The Assad regime is disintegrating despite the support it gets from Russia, China and Iran. Recognizing that, Canada’s allies are aligning with the Syrian opposition with an eye to building up Islamist moderates and elbowing aside radicals. By refusing to get involved, the Harper government is forfeiting any hope of exerting a positive influence on Syria’s future leaders.

Canada should recognize the Syrian National Coalition, boost our humanitarian aid and do our bit to help the Free Syrian Army. That’s the approach U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration is taking.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has just promised $60 million to the Syrian National Coalition to help it shape a unified opposition and distribute food and aid to areas under its control. Moreover, for the first time Washington has pledged to supply the rebel fighters with food and medical supplies. The European Union has eased its arms embargo on Syria to allow nonlethal equipment to be sent in to protect civilians. Britain is looking to provide combat gear, including military transport vehicles, body armour and night-vision goggles. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are providing light weapons. The U.S., France and Britain provide communications equipment.

This slow but concerted ratcheting-up of support is designed to help the Syrian opposition set up a credible government of their own on Syrian soil, much as Libya’s rebels did in Benghazi. The message to Assad could not be clearer.

Whatever the Harper government may think of the Syrian opposition and its fighters, Ottawa has no excuse not to do more on the humanitarian side. The UN warns of a “humanitarian tragedy” unfolding as terrified Syrians flee to Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon. Of the UN’s most recent $1.5 billion appeal to help Syrian civilians, barely $200 million has been delivered. Aid workers are pleading for more. Canada should help plug that gap and save lives.

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